Thanks for nothing

I happened to bump into an acquaintance at WOW Beverages earlier today (read an hour ago). He was restocking for the weekend, and I was purchasing some wines for a client.

He was eager to relinquish the task of having to select the wines himself which would ultimately have him buying the same wines he buys every week so he asked me for some help. Always eager to have others experience different wines, I agreed.

Somewhere between both my tasks I decided to get a 2011 bottle of Mount Riley Pinot Noir from New Zealand. I knew it was going to be “nice” and hot 🙁 so I already begun making excuses for it. Truth be told, I was, in fact, eager to taste it myself so he made for the perfect excuse.

The nose begun rather excitingly. Okay, I could smell the alcohol already due to the temperature it was at, but it had abundant red cherries, dark chocolate and savoury earth. I thought yum! Tasting it, I was woefully disappointed. The fruit was all but gone, leaving a thin mid palate, oxidative almost bitter pithy character and some acidity. Clumsy to say the least. I needed it to shine, but it crushed and burned. And that is wine. What’s not to love?